Even the cheap booze flying off the shelves in Tesco et al has seen a downturn - a 6.5% fall. The recession is well and truly here.
The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA), which documents these things, is naturally very critical of the Government policy towards brewers and pubs - beer sales had reduced duty and VAT receipts by about ?181 million since the last Budget in March - despite an 18 per cent rise in duty on beer last year.
CEO of the BBPA, Rob Hayward, said: "These figures highlight the extreme economic pressures hitting Britain's beer and pub sector. Beer sales are sinking and many pubs are struggling to survive. Pub closures have escalated to nearly six a day. Unfortunately, Government tax policy is only making a difficult situation worse."
It seems the main problem is mandatory code of practice imposed by the Crime and Police Bill giving pubs and extra financial burden of ?300m in 2009.
One example of the struggle facing beer legends is highlighted by the Suffolk brewer and pub operator Adnams. Despite posting better results than most of it's competitors, its volumes fell by 6% while its pubs had found trading in November and early December very hard work.
The Fair Pint campaign is calling for the scrapping of the beer tie that governs supplies.
